Lore: Children of the Cathedral · 9:15pm Jun 1st, 2023
Art by Willoillo
Sunny Hymn's coming up with increasingly ridiculous ways to avoid having to go back to the NCR.
The Children of the Cathedral, Post-Red Eye, is a group I have been interested in for a while. I am pretty sure that I mentioned their giant Thunderhead visible in the Canterlot Valley in an early chapter. The Cathedral of Overcast which they settled in following the conclusion of the original story and the fight against the Enclave (mentioned in the Epilogue prior to the Afterword) is an interesting place, I think. There are a lot of potential plothooks there for both them and for Roulette. That is to say that they've been on my mind for a while. So I will talk about them here!
I like to think that Littlepip fulfilled their prophecy about Red Eye by technicality, but this has also created a schism beneath the surface of the organization. Littlepip has in a sense "ascended" into the S.P.P. towers, so rather than preaching about the Goddess and Unity, The Children of the Cathedral now preach about following the path of Littlepip (Personally I think the Path of the Lightbringer sounds a little too generic), though not all of them have adopted this new path. But I think that they would be amongst Red Eye's most loyal and educated and so their vision for the future is probably a lot closer to his proposed Utopia than what Gawd's NCR is aiming to create (or they are willing to admit). One option is that could mean that they would support Littlepip taking a more active role as a "Goddess", which was basically Red Eye's hope at the end of the original? But there might also be more radical interpretations.
I think a big draw to their organization would be in accepting ponies seeking redemption or another chance at life (pegasi, ex-raiders, lost alicorns), as religion often tends to appeal towards. Perhaps also those aiming to escape the NCR. I'd say their relationship with the NCR is "cooperative", but their inner-organization politics remain secretive. They tend to provide for their members and those who join the Children of the Cathedral. Outside contact is limited but exists due to necessity.
They could also be sitting on some of Red Eye's old "assets", as well as information that might still be in surviving terminals aboard the crashed Thunderhead. I really hope I find the time to include them because I have some interesting story ideas that would probably span a chapter or two. Another idea I really like is that perhaps they've taken to adopting the number "2" or collecting Stable-tec gear as holy artifacts? I kind of feel like Stable 2 gear in general would become extremely popular, especially after the book of Littlepip, but she was popular even when she was just being talked about on the radio. tl;dr Littlepip is a very popular horse. I hope that Roulette will get the chance to visit them in the future.
I meant to post this in early May on my birthday but I lost track of time, haha. Oops. Thanks for reading!
Happy June!
-El Dee
PS: I realize this is more of a speculation post than a lore post, but I felt like it was better to post something than nothing at all. Just to let you know I'm still working on the update. Thanks for being patient.
